The Midnight Sisters: The Hidden Hope
by CarolineTheRebel
Summary: As the Clone Wars rage on, the Republic and the Jedi Council struggle to end the bloodshed. But on the mysterious and forest-caped planet of Kashyyyk, there was a hidden hope. Follow Luna as she tells her (and her sisters') story, from an isolated huntress to a Jedi to a goddess... It's a perfect mixture of action, humor, and a hint of romance!
1. Ch 1: Into The Woods

-Into The Woods-

Luna

Roars echoed off the trees and my footsteps made a light _crunch_ sound as I sprinted across the forest floor. The air was cool and humid, and I looked up to see that the sun was halfway up into the sky. Where are they? I wondered, pausing to catch my breath and to wipe the sweat off my forehead.

I stopped and sat on the leaf covered ground, and I leaned against the base of a wroshyr tree. I set down my spear and my bow and ran a finger through my long, black hair that went two-thirds down my back. Two thirds... I thought, It's always two-thirds. Even though two-thirds is a strange measure for hair, that was the way I liked it. It made me look more wild yet beautiful... Not at I really cared much about beauty. I was a huntress, but I had to be, well, presentable. If my hair was any longer, it might get in my way of shooting an arrow or throwing a spear or something. That would be a disaster...

Another roar echoed off of the trees, but this time the echo was stronger, meaning it was closer. I stood up, and stretched. All of the sudden, another sound echoed through the forest. But this sound was softer. It was calmer, and more musical. The sound of a flute.

I fumbled for my small silver flute, which was attached to my belt. I took a deep breath a blew into the flute, and played a quick tune.

I waited.

Three other flutes played back in response in the distance.

I grabbed my spear and put by bow on my back. I began to run towards Spring Flat, where the flute noises had come from. Just as I took off, I heard another roar, even louder that the last.

It only made me run faster.

I burst through the brush and leapt over rocks. The ground changed under my feet as I sprinted. Instead of fallen leaves, or grasses, or flowers, there was a smooth, brown-yellow stone. Spring Flat. I paused and looked around. I was still near the edge of the forest, where the trees ended and the stone began, the boundaries of Spring Flat. I paused for a second to take in the beauty of my surroundings. Spring Flat was one of my favorite places in the Forest. A soft wind always seemed to blow across the flat, beige-yellow stone landscape. There was an occasional stone arch or boulder, but other than that, Spring Flat was pretty...umm... flat. But my favorite part were the Oasis Islands. The Midnight River, which flowed from the Midnight Falls, cut the Forest neatly in half. My sisters would often tell me the river reminded them of my blue eyes. I always shrugged and turned around, only to blush in secrecy.

Anyway, as I was saying, the Oasis Islands were my favorite part of Spring Flat. The Midnight River flowed through Spring Flat, and the river slowly eroded away the weaker rock, leaving small islands that were surrounded by The Midnight River. Eventually The Midnight River meets back up and continues going near the edge of Spring Flat. Over the years, small plants and flowers with vibrant colors grew on the islands in the cracks of the rock. Spring is the best time to visit, because Spring Flat and the Oasis Islands are absolutely infested with beautiful plants and ferns. Even the rock arches are covered in ivy-like vines.

I walked up to the largest stone arch in Spring Flat. I put my hand on its warm, cracked surface. "Hello, Lethamal," I whispered "How do you do?"

I'm not crazy. I'm not insane. I'm sensitive and respectful towards nature. It is my belief that if we do not respect nature, the gods will visit their wrath upon us. So, yes, I gave a stone arch a name.

I remember, when my sisters and I were younger, we would climb up onto Lethamal. He was a good 50 feet tall, and we could see for miles around. Of course, this was before we put platforms in the trees...

Another roar interrupted my thoughts. I was starting to get frustrated. _Where is it? Where are they? They should be here by now. What if it got them... No. You can't be thinking like that Luna, or you'd scare yourself half to death. They're fine. They're coming. You know that Luna. You can sense it._ I stopped my rational thinking and began to climb Lethamal. I got to the top and sat down. I looked at the tree-covered horizon, and saw, in the distance, a stone silhouette.

 _The village._ I growled in my head. _That stupid village, full of stupid, stubborn, people who care about no one else but themselves._ I bit my lip. _Not everyone in the village is selfish, Luna,_ said the reasonable voice in my head. _Think about Ms. Udala, and the Wookies, and all of the kind townspeople. They try to help, Luna, they really do. But they can't do anything about it. About what happened. About your parents. I think you already know that, but do you accept it?_

"Yes, so called "Reasonable Luna"," I said out loud. "I do know that. I do accept it. I just don't understand why they don't tell me. Tell us." I sighed. "I wish I knew. I wish I knew what happened the night I was born. I wish I knew about my parents. I wish I could go. And explore. And see what's out there in the galaxy, waiting for me. Don't you wish those things too?"

And for the first time, the reasonable voice in my head had nothing to say.

So I sat there, for what seemed like hours but was probably only just a few minutes. I sat there, my mind blank. I sat there, staring up at the sky as the sun passed from mid-day to the afternoon, tracing the cracks in the rock with my fingers. I closed my eyes and tried to meditate. The sun shone on my face, warming my skin, and I could hear the soft sound of the Midnight River, flowing around the Oasis Islands. And for once, there were no roars of it in the distance.

I concentrated, and tried to pull memories from the past, hoping to get a glimpse of my parents, or even maybe other things. Things like why my sisters and I were banished, isolated, and frowned upon by the Council of Elders. Why were we forced to reside in the Forest, fighting for survival. And if they didn't want us here, then why couldn't we leave?

I concentrated more, and my surroundings began to fade. The noises had stopped, and I knew I was fully submerged into my thoughts. I subconsciously groped in the darkness, I saw all the things I had done with my sisters and my accomplishments. I saw myself as a small 5-year-old, with a spear that was much too large for me, in my hand. I stood there with my sisters, listening attentively to what Ms. Udala was telling us. _You will soon have to leave this village, and live in the forests of The Beyond. I will be very disappointed in all four of you if you waste away at the merciless hands of nature, whether you expire from starvation, freeze to death in the cold of the Winter, or get torn to shreds by some beast in the Forest. I will teach you how to survive, obtain resources, and, most importantly of all, hunt. This will be your lifestyle, and you have very little choice. I expect you to succeed in becoming the best huntresses I have seen in entire life. Now we begin your training._ The words were clear, and I would remember them for the rest of my life. They did not strike fear into myself, like they did to my sisters, but inspired me.

I dug deeper into the darkness, searching, looking. I saw myself getting older, getting stronger and more shaped. I saw myself winning my first archery contest. I saw my sisters and I sprinting so fast on a dirt track that our feet seemed to not be touching the ground, the day we broke the record and became the fastest runners in the village. I saw the day my sisters and I, drenched with sweat, looked up into the Sacred Grove to see our finished home stowed safely up into the branches of a tree.

Then it hit me.

I was suddenly in a cradle, in the middle of a forest. I could barely make out a tall, beautiful, glowing-blue figure that was obviously female was looking at me, a serene smile on her face. I also saw a man with black hair and green eyes holding her hand, smiling down at me too.

But I could barely see. It was night and my vision was blurry. The woman opened her mouth, as if to speak, and everything went black.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was back to the present, sill sitting on Lethamal. "NO!" I yelled, to the sky, pounding my fist onto the soft, warm rock surface of Lethamal. "I was so close." I whispered, burying my face in my hands. "So close..." I opened my eyes and looked at the place where I had hit Lethamal with my fist. There was a crack in the rock that I had made when I did so, and I instantly felt guilty. "I... I'm sorry Lethemal. I shouldn't have done that..."

I traced my finger on the crack in the rock, and wherever my finger touched, the rock instantly mended together. When I was done, I stood up (which was pretty dangerous, considering I was a good 50 feet above the ground) and stretched my hands out to the sky. "O, glorious gods, forgive me. I have disrespected nature, therefore, I have sinned. If you must, punish me for my wrongdoing!" Luckily, nothing happened, meaning that the gods had forgiven me. I sat down and patted the surface of the rock.

I sat there again, bored out of my mind. For the hundredth time, I wondered, Where are they? I've been sitting here forever, and the roars are getting louder and more frequent. I swear if it gets to the village, the Council of Elders will have our heads...

I didn't have to worry much longer, because a voice behind me answered my question.

"Hey sis, where have you been?"


	2. Ch 2: The Beast

-The Beast-

Luna

"Rhen!" I shouted, whipping around. "You-" "I scared you?" said my sister, Rhen, with a mischievous smile on her face. "No! You just-" I exclaimed, scrambling down Lethamal,"-you just took me by surprise, that's all..."

As soon as I got close to the ground, I leapt off Lethamal and ran to Rhen. When I reached her, I gave her a tight hug, but I pulled back. "RHEN! WHERE WERE YOU?! WE WERE ALL SUPPOSED TO MEET HERE NEARLY AN HOUR AGO! YOU HAD ME WORRIED SICK!" I shouted, trying not to strangle her.

"Whoa, whoa, Luna! Calm down!" she said, putting her hands on my shoulders. "Selene, Kallisto, and I got a little side-tracked. You see, there was this..." she stopped and sighed, putting her hands to her head. "It's a long story... I'll tell you later."

"It better be an entertaining story..." I warned, trying not to sound angry, "because we just lost a good hour of trying to find the-" A loud roar interrupted me, and Rhen and I both turned towards The Forest. "Looks like it won't be too hard to find it..." she muttered over more roars.

"Where are Selene and Kallisto? I don't see them..." I said, looking around. "They're at the edge of The Forest..." said Rhen. "C'mon!"

When we reached the edge of The Forest, I spotted Selene. She honestly isn't very hard to spot, and I'll try to tell you why...

Selene is definitely the, uh... "special" sister, if you could call her that. She definitely has a rebellious streak, and I'm not talking about just her personality. Selene has fair skin and fierce, purple eyes. Her hair is probably the strangest part about her. She has a messy boy-ish style hair, with the bottom right portion of her head shaved, and the rest flopped over to the left side of her head. On top of that, she decided to put purple streaks in her hair... She says it looks "cool", but we always just roll our eyes. I hate to say it, but I guess it does look pretty "cool".

When it comes to patience, Selene doesn't have much... She also tends to have a temper, but we all have our flaws.

But as strange and out-of-place Selene is, she is my sister, and she has a pure heart. She's also an amazing mechanic, seeing that she modified some old speeders to be faster, more accurate, and to pretty much make all of the other mechanics insanely jealous when we pass by the village on them. Selene's our trapper. You need her to catch all those wild whatever-they-ares that are rampaging around the town with custom-made net traps? Already done.

As I was saying...

I ran up to Selene. I looked around and couldn't see Kallisto. "Where is Kallisto?" I asked Selene sternly. "Gee, sis! Glad to see you too!" said Selene irritatedly, with her arms crossed. I just rolled my eyes. "I'm serious." "She's up there." said Selene, pointing upwards to the canopy of the wroshyr trees. "Of course..." I sighed. I began to climb the tree.

A word about Kallisto quickly, before you meet her. She's always been The Little Sister, The Quiet One. Well, we're all exactly the same age, but you get the idea... Like I said, Kallisto is pretty quiet. But don't get me wrong, she can be fierce when she wants to. Kallisto is more defense than offense, however, she's pretty good when it comes to using a dagger or other short-range weapon. Kallisto has a gift. Kallisto is probably the most amazing healer I have ever seen in my entire life. Give her some plants, a bowl, and a stone or knife, and she'll whip up a pain killer that'll heal you faster than a Daimon can run (translation: hella fast). She's always experimenting with the local plants, and she's invented hundreds of medicines, all of which she keeps on shelf in her laboratory and some on her utility belt.

Just like Selene's, her appearances can be slightly surprising. Her skin is fair, like mine. Her hair is blood-red, and she always keeps it tied into a long braid that is either on her shoulder or casually hanging behind her back. She often has small flowers in her braid, which, for some strange reason, never die until she pulls them out and replaces them with new ones. But Kallisto's eyes are just straight-up startling. Her eyes are as bright and as priceless as emeralds. I

make the comparison because I've worked my butt off looking for them in the mines. It's always worth it in the end though, because at the market, those beauties pay the bills. Literally.

Back to climbing the tree.

As I was climbing the tree, I thought about it. It was hard not to, seeing as the roars went off every few seconds, and were only getting louder.

I guess I should call it by its real name. The Nexu.

Nexus are only found on Cholganna and sometimes on Zhanox, but the icky little bugs from Geonosis have a couple for "entertainment". Anyway, Poggle the Lesser ordered some of his soldiers to bring a Nexu to Kashyyyk and let it loose. It adapted to the climate and changed slightly, and began to hunt people and livestock down. The Council of Elders had it brought to their attention and ordered us track it down and kill it. Yay.

A Nexu is about 14.5 feet long (including its tail), has a really long tail that looks and serves as a whip, 4 red eyes, quills the size of spears, and a massive jaw with razor-sharp teeth.

We've been studying it's moving patterns, what it eats, how it hunts. We've learned a surprising amount about it. It's carnivorous, so it only eats meat, which is an advantage to us because there's more vegetation than living organisms, so the Nexu can only eat so much. The Nexu has been hunting mostly the fish that live in the Midnight River and local livestock, which is upsetting the farmers. I've never admitted it to my sisters, but I felt like the Nexu has been studying us too. I'm the only one who's noticed how intelligent the Nexu is.

I got to the top of the tree and tried hard not to look down. I searched the canopy for Kallisto, and finally found her. I wouldn't have seen her if it wasn't for her rose-red hair and bright, green eyes. Our special clothing was made for camouflage. I leapt don to the branch that she was crouching on. Kallisto didn't move.

"It's been acting weird today."

"How?"

"It's been going in a circle around this 3-mile radius. It hasn't even stopped moving."

It took me a moment to realize what was about to happen.

"We need to get down there to Rhen and Selene before it's too late." I said, alarmed.

"We don't have good weapons. We need to gear up if it's going to attack us."

"Right." I said "We can go to the falls and grab some stuff from our stash."

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Kallisto, smiling. "Let's do this."

Minutes later Selene, Kallisto, Rhen, and I were sprinting away from Spring Flat, towards Midnight Falls.

"So let me get this straight." huffed Selene "You're saying that the Nexu is now hunting us and we have to go get better gear so it won't tear us to shreds?"

"Yeah, something along those lines." I laughed

We got to the Midnight Falls and stopped to catch our breath.

"Ok, Luna" said Rhen. "Do your thing."

I stepped towards the sparkly, blue waters. I spread out my hand towards the pool of water that gathered the water from the falls and sent it into the river. I focused on the movement of the water and on the drops of mist that fell on my face as I closed my eyes. I felt a rush and my heart raced as I heard the slow, heavy grinding of stone. I opened my eyes and saw large stepping stones that led all the way to the front of the falls. I went first and my sisters went behind me. We balanced carefully on the stones and, luckily, made our way across without falling in. When we reached the face of the waterfall, I stuck my hands in and spread them out, as if opening a curtain. The water responded to my movement and a doorway opened, leading behind the waterfall to where a cave was. I heard the grinding of stone behind me as my sisters and I stepped into the cave as the steps disappeared beneath the blue waters.

Many years ago, my sisters and I found shelter here and resided here for nearly a year. The falls offered fresh water, and the surrounding area was lush with flowers, wroshyr trees, and fruit plants. The only downside was the air in the cave was very humid, so we had to keep some items outside. Also, the cave was quite dark (I mean, it was a cave, so...), we had some candles and lanterns that hung from the ceiling that we lit whenever we came.

Now, we kept a stash of armor and weapons and stuff in the cave, for emergencies.

Once we were inside the cave, I felt along the wall for a rope. I found it and pulled, and the lantern on the roof of the cave lowered to chest-height. I walked up to one and pinched the wick. Immediately a blue fire ignited, shedding some light in the cave. I saw a blue glow and felt a tingle in my hand. I brought my right hand up to my face to look at it.

My Symbol was glowing.

You see, my sisters and I were born with these tattoo-like symbols on our hands, but we never found out why. Mine looks like two stars and a crescent moon and glows blue, Rhen's looks like a sun and glows yellow, Selene's looks like a couple swirly lines with a star in the middle (a representation of the wind and sky) and glows purple, and Kallisto's looks like a leaf and glows green. Nobody but Ms. Udala and some of our most trusted Wookie friends know about the Symbols. They're one of our greatest secrets...

I lit the rest of the lanterns and hooked the rope back on the wall. I walked towards the back of the cave and into a small storage room. There were racks full of armor and weapons, from iron spears to wooden bows and gleaming swords. We each carefully chose our armor and put it on. We all had leather hunting clothes, and we only wore the armor during a hunt or something of the sort. I chose an iron chest plate and reinforced leather with chain mail leggings and a traditional battle helmet. I then grabbed some more arrows for my bow, sharpened my spear, and chose two daggers from the rack and strapped them to my belt.

I looked around at my sisters. We all had similar amor, but different weapons. Rhen had a spear and a bow, Selene had a crossbow that was custom-made to shoot both arrows and nets, and Kallisto had a sword and some electric grenades. Kallisto gave us 2 each, and we turned around to leave. I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a table with 3 bowls full of glowing sand. I walked towards it and realized it was Stardust.

"Luna, you comin'?" shouted Selene. "Yeah, I'm coming! Just give me a minute..."

I took my arrows and dipped them into the green Stardust. Now my arrows injected painless poison to whatever they hit.

I ran out of the room and into the main part of the cave. I walked up to the water and put my hands in the way I had before, and the water parted. The stone steps came up too, even without me having to focus that much. We sprinted back to the flat, and I hoped we were prepared for what was to come.

We reached the flat. There was no Nexu in sight. No roars. Nothing.

We ran to the middle of the flat, and I climbed Lethamal to see if I could get a better look from above. Still nothing.

Everything was eerily silent. The Nexu was no doubt watching us.

"EVERYBODY WATCH OUT!" I heard someone scream. Then I saw it.

The monstrous beast came bounding through the rocks and lush green, trampling everything under it. And it was going straight for Rhen. She was on the Oasis Islands, completely frozen. Selene ran towards the Nexu, her crossbow in hand. She aimed and pulled the trigger.

An explosive arrow hit it square in the side and it let out a deafening roar. It was now focused on Selene, barreling towards her.

Then suddenly, Kallisto threw a Nightshade dust grenade that exploded into purple dust in its face, temporarily blinding the Nexu.

We went on like this for minutes, weakening it and tiring it and reverting its attention from sister to sister. But I knew all too well that the Nexu would learn our tricks and turn on us.

And, of course, I was right. Kallisto had just thrown another Nightshade dust grenade at it, and suddenly, it turned and ran at me with all the strength it had left in it.

I saw my chance. As it ran towards me, it's chest was open, uncovered. I took three poison arrows and notched them on my bow. I pulled back as far as I could on the bowstring, and let the arrows fly. They hit their target with precise accuracy.

The sheer force of the arrows hitting the Nexu sent it skidding and tumbling at least 50 feet. It roared in pain and anger as it got back on its legs, unable to feel the poison that was coursing through its body.

It ran at me again, slower this time, and I knew I didn't need my arrows for the final blow. I raised my hand, and time seemed to slow. First, Kallisto sent more Nightshade dust grenades at it. Then Selene took her chance and fired a huge net at it using her crossbow, entangling it. It roared in frustration as Rhen sent some arrows at it, none of them missing their target.

The Nexu was getting weaker and weaker, but I had to make sure I had the time to say the Divine Words before it died. I raised my other hand, and another rush was sent through my body as the Nexu was sent flying backwards into a large boulder. I heard a crack and the Nexu fell limp at the base of the boulder.

We ran towards it and we stopped a few feet near it. The Nexu was breathing very lightly and slowly, and when we got close to it, it did not growl or move or roar. We stared into its eyes, and it stared back into ours.

All together, we whispered:

 _Feth Valethik Jaloluhn Igraetheth,_

 _We set you free,_

 _Igenalh Ahnxohnalh Japollaheth,_

 _Fly away home!_

The Nexu closed its eyes, and went still.

We stood in silence for a while, looking at the Nexu.

"Well, we did it. We actually did it." Rhen said finally.

"And this..." Selene patted the Nexu's pelt. "... Is going to make a nice cloak."


End file.
